Inside The Sopranos / UK UFO Cases

About the show

In the first half, actor Steve Schirripa, known for playing fan-favorite character Bobby Baccalieri on The Sopranos, joined George Knapp. Schirripa outlined his unconventional route in life, which started with his growing up in Brooklyn, then going to college, and finally with working in several of Las Vegas's most high-profile nightclubs in the 1980s before pursuing professional acting. When he auditioned for The Sopranos in the late 1990s, Schirripa related, it was not for the role he became famous for; the show's casting director felt he was a better fit for the role of Baccalieri, and he got that part instead, debuting in the second season. At the time, the show was still relatively obscure despite its critical acclaim, and along with several of his colleagues on The Sopranos, Schirripa recalled that he could barely survive on the salary it provided. Within a season or two, however, the series got the attention it deserved, amassing an enormous fan base and continuing to win numerous awards.

Schirripa shared a number of insights into working on the show. Like the crime family the series depicts, the cast became extremely close, he said; characters getting killed off on the show—as well as the real-life death of star James Gandolfini in 2013—were emotionally distressing for all. Schirripa remembered Gandolfini as not only a great actor, but as an extremely generous person who often gave friends gifts or money. Working with veteran writer and producer David Chase on the program was an honor as well: Schirripa expressed his admiration for the show's intelligence, humor, and genuine characters under Chase's guidance. "It's not your typical mob show," he reflected.

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British UFO researcher Philip Mantle was the guest in the second half, discussing several cases in the United Kingdom. Originally a member of the Yorkshire UFO Society, Mantle shared an early experience with reporting a local woman's encounter with a crashed alien spacecraft. As he continued in his investigations of paranormal phenomenon, he explained, he came to realize that, in contrast to high-profile conspiracies involving government coverups and the like, individual cases like these were the most powerful evidence for widespread alien visits and encounters.

Mantle went on to highlight several such cases from the UK, some going back many decades. He described, for example, his interview with a member of the British Royal Air Force who encountered an alien being one night on a lonely country road in 1943, noting the man's credibility and sincerity. Going much farther back, Mantle also cited a 1767 report of a "large luminous body, like a house on fire" seen near Scotland that lifted a rider off their horse. Calling a 1979 incident in Scotland "the one and only time there was a full forensic police investigation into a UFO case," he described the case of an employee of the Forest Commission who claimed he was attacked by a UFO. His wife notified the police, who conducted a complete official inquiry.